King's Bishop
by Kairne
Summary: Lee tells Marco how he feels, but Marco says that they can't be friends anymore. Lee goes to a meeting of The Sharing and meets someone new. But can he ever get over his feelings for Marco? Tom/OC slash. rating for slight language and innuendos. FINISHED!
1. 1: At Every Turn

Disclaimer: I don not own the Animorphs. I do, however, own Lee Douglas. He's mine. All mine. GRRRRRRRR. And the quote was inspired by Jinako-chan's Threads of Fate. And a certain friend of mine will love Chapter 3 when I come out with it. Read, review. I don't care if you offend. I want honesty.

**1)At Every Turn…**

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I never give them hell. I just tell the truth and they think its hell.

-Harry Truman

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"I'm sorry, but that's just too much for me to handle. I'm sorry, but I'm not too comfortable being your friend anymore. Nothing personal, I just don't want to hang around someone who may or may not be checking me out. That's just not my cup of coffee," Marco Jones said to me.

"That's OK. I completely understand," I told him, trying not to cry. I had just revealed to him two major secrets, the former being something very personal about myself, and the latter relating to him. And me. And feelings. And- well, I think you catch my drift. My name is Lee Douglas, by the way. And if you couldn't guess by now, my life completely and utterly sucks.

That little incident happened about three weeks ago. Since then, I haven't hung out with Marco at lunch, I haven't talked to him in the two classes we have together, history and english. I have made no unprovoked contact, be it physical or verbal, with him since. He talks to his best friend since birth, Jake. I talk to my best friends, Cissy and Phil. It doesn't help. He's still all I can think of. When I do my homework, when I wake up. And worst of all, in my dreams. There's just no escape to be found. So why did I decide to go to this meeting? I see a poster about this great club and suddenly I'm all for it. God, I am so desperate. Desperate enough to go to this club called The Sharing. Desperate enough to arrive 20 minutes before the meeting is even scheduled to begin. It wasn't all bad, being there early. I got into a conversation about politics with a straight Italian man in his mid-twenties named Giovanni, a straight white woman named Lois, and a bisexual Latina. Her name was Mercedes. Lois and Mercedes were full members, while it was Giovanni's eighth and final meeting as a new member. He was becoming a full member tonight. He had light brown hair, green eyes, and was clean-shaven. He was wearing a blue and white polo shirt and his denim jeans looked absolutely _stuffed_. Just saying... but I digress.

As I said earlier, Marco's best friend since birth was Jake Berenson. Jake's a tall white guy with a wide build who, much like myself, would be perfect for football. Unfortunately for our team(go #74), his passion was basketball and mine was tennis. Illogical, really. Despite his height, he couldn't dunk a ball into a one foot high basket. Despite my size, I can be very agile. However, I have virtually no capacity for stamina. Yet again, I digress...

Anyway, that's when I saw _him_. The resemblance was undeniable. You see, Jake has an older brother named Tom. The real basketball star that, for some reason, Jake never seemed to talk about anymore. Weird, because Jake used to practically idolize him just a couple of years ago. People change, I guess. But I could see that him idolization was definitely well earned. Tom was about five foot nine, had a great smile and killer fashion sense. But that's just one part of it. He was also completely hypnotizingly irresistibly wonderfully _HOT_. Did I mention _hot_? I did? Good. Cause if he walked by the Fire Deportment they would have no choice but to spray him down. Yeah, that's right. I went there. You wanna make something of it? You do? Really? DON'T HURT ME!!

Anyway, I think that's about when I fell out of my chair.


	2. 2: Questions

Disclaimer: I don not own the Animorphs. I do, however, own Lee.

**2)Questions**

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Because of human diversity - different tastes, ambitions, interests, backgrounds, experiences, etc. - differences of opinion will be inevitable.

-Natan Sharansky

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I was filling out a long questionnaire, about 100 questions in length. Name, age, sex, date of birth (so why is age necessary?), political party (if any), mother's maiden name, social security number. I gave them all but the lattermost. Call me paranoid, but I don't like the idea of an organization made up of ordinary people having enough information to steal my identity. I only had two years to go until I turned 18, and I didn't want some Mary Sue or Gary Stu stealing my identity and ruining my credit score. Anyway, a speaker was onstage, talking about giving a part of yourself up to become part of something bigger, a collective, a whole. _Isn't that socialism?_ I wondered. _Giving up part of yourself for the greater good?_ Pretty loose concept. The only thing keeping me here was a stupid, irrational hope.

After Giovanni helped me up and made sure I was OK, we had started talking again. He had told me that junior members were assigned to full members so the full members could sort of mentor them and look after them, sort of like the Big Brother program. Tom didn't seem to have a mentor with him tonight, so I had this stupid, irrational hope that maybe, just _maybe_ I would get paired with him. I know, stupid, right?

As I turned in my questionnaire, the lady at the reception counter gave it a brief once-over, and told me to wait a minute while she went and got a mentor for me. When she came back, she had Tom in tow.

"Lee, meet Tom. He's the full member assigned to you. Tom, this is your junior member, Lee."

Maybe dreams _do_ come true. "Um, hi," I said.

"Hey," Tom said. His voice was better than I could've imagined. And his smile! _And how much redder could my cheeks get?!_

But he didn't seem to notice. Or maybe he just dismissed it as shyness. Or maybe he was just trying to spare my feelings. Anywho, we just sat and talked for the rest of the meeting. I was glad I had brought my notebook because I could feel a disturbance in my lower half. Kinda noticeable in gym shorts. I cursed my not wearing jeans. But I was able to use the notebook to hide it and eventually I forgot all about it. We talked about music, video games, and sports. I revealed to him not only the first major thing, but also the second, and even Marco's reaction to said major things. He sympathized, but that was when I changed the subject to books. He said his favorite had to be _The Cat in the Hat_. When I asked him why, he just shrugged and said that it was simple and fun. When I said I liked _1984_ he of course asked why and I told him that it was because it was cryptic and depressing.

After the meeting ended, he offered me a ride home. I graciously accepted. We were in front of my house in his truck and I was about to get out when he asked If we could hang out together the next day. I smiled and said that that would be cool.


	3. 3: Tom

Disclaimer: I don not own the Animorphs. I do, however, own Lee. Note to ZimLillyXenaGurl: its show time!

**3) Tom**

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When you see someone you love with somebody else, your heart kind of falls to the ground.

-Ashlee Simpson

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My name is Tom. And since I'm the first character "in the know" I guess it's my duty to tell you that we aren't alone in the universe. First of all, there's Andalites. Think centaur with blue-and-tan fur, seven fingered hands, auxiliary eyes on top of their heads, and no mouth. Oh yeah, and a tail blade. A blade so powerful, it can cut your head off in one lightning-fast swipe. Then there's Yeerks. In their natural state, they're pretty much squishy brown slugs, blind and defenseless. But if they can crawl into a host's ear canal and wrap themselves around the host's brain, then they control the host. These hosts are called Controllers. With a Yeerk in your head, there are no secrets. They have the ability to read all of the host's memories and thoughts, so they can pass off as them perfectly. They only have one weakness: the Kandrona. Yeerks have to feed on Kandrona rays every three days or they will die. Their hosts, if involuntary, are put in cages, and if voluntary, get to sit back and watch TV. It sucks having a Yeerk in your head. Trust me. My Yeerk's name is Ranoo 112 from the Vega Ujess Pool. But that's a story for another time. Right now, we're talking about Lee.

(0j0)(monkeys lol)(0j0)

We (Ranoo and I) saw Lee at lunch the next day. He was just drifting around, so Ranoo motioned for him to come over and sit next to us. We talked to him like we were the best of friends. We started on music, but ended up talking about the meeting on the previous night. Now, I'm good at reading people. That's why I have a Yeerk with such a high rank. Only high ranking Yeerks would have the knowledge and experience to use their host's natural instincts and actually learn from them. But I could tell, from the look in his eyes, he thought The Sharing was total BS. Why did he go to the meeting then, if he didn't believe their lies? Why would he seem so enthusiastic about spending time with me, just hanging out, neck-deep as I was in The Sharing? Then I could see it. In the back of his eyes, I could see it. I saw _me_, the reason I wanted to join. I had become interested in The Sharing because a girl I liked was a member. I could remember how Sequoyah had strung me along, just letting on enough to keep me interested. One day, I walked in on a secret meeting of the full members. I saw Visser Three in his Andalite form. I was forcibly infested. But I could see in his eyes that I would be his Sequoyah.

You humans are so pathetic, Ranoo sneered. A million of you would fall for the same stupid tricks, over and over again. You practically _need_ us to save you from yourselves.

Yeah, well... I trailed off. I really couldn't think of a retort. It was a sad fact that it was pretty much true. People just couldn't learn from mistakes. I felt how smug Ranoo was about what I'd just thought, but he didn't say anything more. I felt him open my memories, sifting through them until he found what he was looking for. He was seeing exactly how Sequoyah had strung me along. No!! I said to him. Don't do this. You don't have to make his life a living hell, too. Please spare him this fate, I plead, knowing it was pointless. Ranoo would seduce Lee in my body, and Lee would fall. And would forever be a slave in his own head. It seemed such a shame, though. Making a Controller out of someone so nice and sweet and innocent and _cute_. Tell me I did not just say that. The Yeerk saw my mind and reassured me that I _did_, in fact call a guy cute in my head.

Pathetic, really. But altogether convenient. He likes you, and I can use your feelings for him to my advantage. He'll have a Yeerk in his head in no time. Then, without warning, Ranoo moved my body in the chair it was sitting it and _kissed Lee right on the lips_.

Spicy, Huh? I'm thinking about making the next one from Marco's POV. Tell me what you think about it. REVIEW!! If I don't know waht you want me to write, I can't write it. Signed: the author


	4. 4: Wow

Disclaimer: I don not own the Animorphs. I do, however, own Lee.

**4) Wow**

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"It is up to us to make the right choice and the right decisions".

-Karolina Kurkova

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**Marco**

My name is Marco. Marco-no-last-name. I see you already know about the Yeerks. That'll make things simpler. But what you don't know is that there is a guerilla team of morph-capable humans fighting against the Yeerk invasion. Me and my friends are that guerilla team. And we've saved the world about a million times and probably will a million times more. Jake, our Fearless Leader, Cassie is our animal nut and moral compass, as well as being Jake's pseudo-girlfriend (they don't like to admit it). Rachel is a tall, blonde gymnast. But she can't be considered a babe because she is extremely smart and can be vicious. She's also a person that even I'm not stupid enough to get in a serious fight with. Tobias is her "bird-friend." But seriously, what happened to Tobias scares me. On our first mission to the Yeerk pool, he passed the two-hour time limit. Stay in morph for over two hours and you're stuck in it. Permanently. A supposed omnipotent "being" called the Ellimist gave him back the ability to morph in exchange for rescuing two Hork-Bajir (seven foot tall bladed creatures: think walking razor blade) and through some time-bending Tobias was able to "aquire" (absorb DNA for the purpose of morphing) his human self. He could regain his human form permanently by morphing into his human self and waiting for two hours to pass, but then he'd be forever human and never be able to morph again. Then he'd be out of the fight. He'd be defenseless against the Yeerks. And if he was taken, we were all toast. So he had to constantly endure Rachel's pointed comments about regaining his human form. He was practically living in Limbo. And then there's Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthil. Or Ax, as we like to call him. He's an Andalite and the only non-human on our team (Tobias's _mind_ is still human, after all). He's our expert on all things alien. He's the younger brother of Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul, the Andalite that gave us the morphing power, and who is, coincidentally, Tobias's father. That's thanks to the Ellimist's time-bending powers. But that's _his _story.

Anyway, I lead a pretty stressful and confusing life, huh? And to top it all off, one of my friends told me a couple of things that shocked the hell out of me a couple weeks ago. Apparently, he was gay and had a crush on me. I wasn't exactly flattered. In fact, I was quite uncomfortable. Heartless bastard that I am, I told him that we couldn't be friends anymore. I just didn't feel comfortable with the possibility of getting checked out by one of my best friends. Call me crazy. Anyway, I guess that was a big mistake. Because now, Lee's hanging out with Jake's older brother, Tom. Jake's _controller_ brother. But I knew Lee wasn't a controller. Not yet, anyway. If Lee was a controller, Tom definitely would not be _kissing_ him. Especially not in public, at school. That really surprised me. Tom's Yeerk was risking his rep and social status. There was no way he would do this for any ordinary person. Lee must be important to the Yeerks for some reason. And the worst part was that it was my fault he would fall to the Yeerks. If I hadn't over-reacted, then he wouldn't have even met Tom. All my fault. I had to talk about it with my team, but I was pretty sure what I needed to do.

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**Lee**

Tom and me were talking about music like we had the previous night, and I was telling him that Metallica blew ZZ Top out of the water any day. Then, without so much as a warning he leaned in close to me and _kissed me_.

I was suddenly speechless. I could feel my cheeks start to turn red. My mouth just hung open. After several seconds, I found I could move my face again. I looked at Tom. He was blushing slightly, looking embarrassed but also rather pleased. I could only manage one word.

"Wow."


	5. 5: Complications

1)

Disclaimer: I do not own the Animorphs. I only own Lee. This chapter is dedicated to Sarah1281 because she left a review. THANK YOU!!

**5) Complications**

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I see mysteries and complications wherever I look, and I have never met a steadily logical person..

-Martha Gellhorn

)()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()(

"Wow," Lee said.

I was awestruck. Why would Ranoo do this? Emotions welled up inside me. Anger, embarrassment, guilt. But even worse was the pride I had rendered Lee totally speechless. Well, to be fair my Yeerk did, but he used _my_ body to do it. I felt guilty about that.

"Sorry," Ranoo made me say. Not that I _wasn't_ sorry. I was, but _I_ wasn't the one who had made my body kiss him.

"Don't be," Lee said breathlessly. "That was just so..." he trailed off.

(")Why did you do that?!(") I asked Ranoo.

(")Two reasons. One, because now he would do practically anything for us. He's hooked. He's like putty in my hands,(") Ranoo said.

(")What's the second reason?(") I asked him, even though I was sure I knew what it was.

(")Because it hurts you inside to see me treat him like this, regardless of whether or not you want to admit it. And it'll hurt worse when we turn him into a controller,(") he gloated.

I didn't say anything. It really sucks to argue with someone who knows all your thoughts, feelings, and memories. You just can't win. Especially when you know they're right.

"Hey Lee. Hey Tom," said a voice I didn't recognize at first. Ranoo turned my head. It was Marco. I felt a surge of hope. Maybe, just maybe, Marco could get Lee away from me. Maybe Lee didn't have to share my fate. After all, Lee liked Marco. A lot. If anyone could save Lee from living as a controller, it was Marco.

"Hey Marco," my mouth said.

"Hey," Lee said. _Come on! _I thought. _You can do it!_

"I was just wondering if you wanted to hang out after school today, Lee. You know, play some basketball. Get your ass handed to you at Mortal Kombat. Stuff like that," he said. _Yes!_

"I thought you said you didn't feel comfortable hanging out with me anymore," Lee said.

"I know, and I'm sorry. I over-reacted'" Marco said.

"Okay, then. I guess that would be cool," Lee answered shyly.

(")Too bad there's a full member's meeting right after school today,(") I gloated. (")Visser Three will have your head if you don't go, and Marco could easily make Lee completely forget his feelings for me. I guess your plan to infest Lee is pretty much shot.(")

Ranoo laughed in my head. A cold, eerie laughed. If I had control of my bladder, I probably would have lost it then. (")A complication, to be sure. But Lee _will_ have one of my brothers in his head soon. Very soon. Trust me,(") he said.

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Sarah1281: Thanks for the suggestion. I usually have long paragraphs because most of it is thought. I'm not so good at dialogue.


	6. 6: Nostalgic, Isn't it?

Disclaimer: I do not own the Animorphs. But Lee is mine. ALL MINE!!!!!!!!!

**6) Nostalgic, Isn't it?**

X~X-=-=-=-=-=-=-=)(#)(*)(#)(=-=-=-=-=-=-=-X~X

To reminisce with my old friends, a chance to share some memories, and play our songs again..

-Ricky Nelson

X~X-=-=-=-=-=-=-=)(#)(*)(#)(=-=-=-=-=-=-=-X~X

**Marco**

"You want to hang out with us too, Tom?" I asked in the nicest voice I could. It seemed to work. _Bullshitting really pays off sometimes,_ I thought to myself. I knew he couldn't come. He had a meeting.

"Nah," he said. "There's a meeting for full members of The Sharing today at the Community Center. Have fun."

"We will. Just some basketball, some Mortal Kombat. But I'm warning you, I never lose," I said. Well, almost never.

"You never lose?" Tom asked, jovially. "Even when Jake totally creams your guy without you even being able to land a hit on him?"

"Exactly," I agreed.

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**Lee**

I could feel two emotions flowing through me: ecstasy and confusion. Ecstasy because not only was I _still_ lightheaded and giddy about the kiss, but also because Marco was hanging out with me. But I was also confused because I was still wondering why Tom had kissed me, especially _in public_. And I was confused about Marco's behavior. Why the sudden change of heart? Oh, well. Maybe he had just needed time.

Marco hung out with us for the rest of lunch. We debated random things, and I'd forgotten that the moron thought that the human spider could kick the Dark Knight's ass. I'd see to it that he saw the light. And soon. We can't have delusional people like that just walking around, free to spread that blasphemy. Oh, well. I guess it couldn't be helped. But it was just like old times, except Tom was there instead of Jake. I groaned when the bell rang. It was time for history.

btw, just so everyone knows, I originally intended the Spidey/Batman argument to be about whether cheese tastes yellow. IT TASTES GREEN


	7. 7: Enter Jake

Disclaimer: simply put, I don't own animorphs gabrieldarke: thanks for the review! I'll try to make more descriptive paragraphs. And I'll try to describe what people are wearing and other things going on and stuff and look at me babbling. just like you do YAY BABBLING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! btw, I'm working on a x-over where Iceman from the x-men meets Jake. I'll leave it to the readers to guess why

Author's note: I'm sorry for forgetting the quote. as you can see, it's here now

**7) Enter Jake**

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"Go with what you feel is right, not what other people think is wrong."

-anonymous

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Jake

My name is Jake. And I probably know what you're thinking. Something like why are you getting involved or you have no place in this story. But my opinion matters. I'm the leader and, even though other people have their own beliefs, it's my unhappy duty to tell everyone what to do and take full responsibility for it.

Marco came to me for help. I was minding my own business, playing solitaire when he came up behind me and said he needed my help. Our friend Lee was being seduced by my brother. My controller brother who had nothing to gain by the school tthinking he's gay. In fact, he had a lot to lose. Something had to be up. This morning he was wearing his "knock 'em dead" shirt, his just-tight-enough deep purple shirt, and his slightly faded denims that fit just right. At the time, I had figured that he was just trying to get some chick to join The Sharing. Lee didn't even come to mind. I had known that Lee was gay, probably even before he did. Marco didn't know, though. He was kind of oblivious to people's feelings about him. He still didn't get that my cousin Rachel really does like him, or that another one of our friends, Zach, checked him out in the locker room when he wasn't looking (Zach is bi).

Anyway, Tom's Yeerk had seen Lee's weakness and exploited it. the only thing missing was a motive. But we'd find that out somehow. But Marco blamed himself. He had over-reacted and Lee had turned to The Sharing for help. Then Tom had taken advantage of his weakness. I told him to do whatever was necessary. At our emergency meeting today I would defend his decision, whatever it may be. I trusted him with the judgement call. He would do what was right. There was going to be a big argument at the barn. I don't know how it would turn out. But it wasn't going to be pretty.


	8. 8: HATE

Disclaimer: I don't own the Animorphs. Probably a good thing, too. Credit for the new title of this fic goes to arin.

gabrieldarke: I don't mind you're advertisement. btw, the name i like is Tom, but i can't exactly make up a character in an animorphs fanfic with the name Tom

**8)HATE**

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Hate is like acid. It can damage the vessel in which it is stored as well as destroy the object on which it is poured.  
-Ann Landers

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Tom

It's me again. And things don't look good for Lee. He's the primary objective for the Yeerks now. (")Why?(") I asked Ranoo. (")Why is he so important for you?(")

(")Shut up, you pathetic human,(") he replied. But I could see it in our mind. Not all of it, but some. Lee was important. Not just important, unique. Ranoo had a plan forming. And it was a good one, too. Poor Lee.

____________________________

Lee

I was walking with Marco after school when Tom came up to us. "Hey!" he said, getting our attention. "Lee, I heve great news. I talked to a few people, pulled some strings, and guess what? You're invited to the meeting. Everyone wants to meet you. My friends have known I was gay for a while. They all want to meet the guy I'm so crazy about. They love you already."

"Cool," I said, probably a little to enthusiasticly. "It okay if we postpone 'till tomorrow?" I added, hoping not to hurt his feelings. I didn't want to damage our delicate friendship. He hadn't talked to me for weeks.

"You can take tomorrow and shove it up your big, fat-" he started scathingly.

"Marco!" Tom interjected sharply. "That's no way to talk to a friend!"

"Friend," Marco said sarcastically. "Yeah, we're _such_ good friends," he added, glaring at me. His eyes were daggers, and they hurt. A lot. "Run along to your little meeting, you pathetic fag. I see where your priorities lie. One kiss from McStud over there and you'd follow him anywhere. You fucking make me sick. And by the way, you suck at basketball _and_ Mortal Kombat. Friends," he scoffed and walked off.

Tom walked over to me and hugged me tightly. "It's okay," he told me.

Tom was sweet. He was so nice. "Tom?" I asked.

"Yes?"

"Will you be my boyfriend?" I asked.

"Yes. Most definitely," He kissed me again. It was one of those kisses that seemed to last forever. After our lips broke contact, I was breathless. "C'mon, let's go to the meeting. We don't want to be late."

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You like? Make sure to review!!!!!!!!


	9. 9: Has to Appear mad to Trick Enemy

Disclaimer: Don't own them. Probably never will. and i wish that this story would get more reviewers(hint hint)  
Thank you TapTapTap from the heart of my bottom for your review. At least _someone_ cares

**9)HATE: Has to Appear mad to Trick Enemy**

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"It's not enough we do our best; sometimes we have to do what's required"  
-Sir Winstron Churchill

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Marco

"Friends," I had scoffed. It was killing me inside to do this to one of my closest friends. But it had to be done. It really hurt me to hurt him like this, especially right after we had made amends. I turned and pretended to storm off. I must say, I must have been rather convincing. I heard Lee crying, probably in Tom's arms.

"It's okay," I barely heard Tom say.

"Tom?" Lee inquired, slightly more audibly. I slowed down ever so slightly, wondering just what he was going to ask. Tom must've replied, because the next thing I heard was Lee's voice say "Will...?" That's all I heard. I was too far away to hear the rest. I just hoped he hadn't asked what I was sure he had. And knowing Tom's Yeerk, the answer would be yes. _Shit_ I thought, distracted. So distracted, in fact, that I ran into Erek the Chee.

"Hey Marco," he said.

"Hey what's uuuhhh... What's with the outfit?" He was wearing purple bike shorts and, I swear, a sunflower-print t-shirt. "What, did you lose a bet with one of your dogs or something? I mean, seriously."

"The author is making an subtle allusion to the fic 'Games.' And just then a not-so-subtle one."

_Author?_ "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, nothing," he said. "But the main thing is that the Yeerks really want this genetic anomaly named-"

"Lee," I finished. "Lee Douglas. But what's an anomaly?"

"He's got a genetic deviant strain," Erek said. Clear as mud to me. Really, _really_ opaque mud. A quagmire of _extremely radically opaque_ mud. Erek must've seen the confusion on my face. "His mind can resist Yeerk control."

"Oh. So why do they want him?" I asked.

"If he voluntarily submits to Yeerk control, the gene will reveal its presence. The Yeerks can then isolate this gene, polarize it, and reverse its effect. No one but Lee will have the capability to resist the Yeerks. They will release this in hamburger meat worldwide. Complete and utter mind control. Game over."

"Didn't they already try that?" I asked.

"Yeah, in Book 28," he said.

"What?"

"Nothing," he said. "But if they try to forcibly infest Lee, his anomaly attributes will activate."

"Okay, we need Ax, Tobias, and Rachel," I said.

(")Is it just me or did I hear my name down there?(") Tobias thought at us.

"What-?" I started. I was stopped by Erek.

"There are people coming," he explained.

(")He's right,(") Tobias said. (")One guy, one girl. Both about your age. Got a plan?(") I nodded slightly. (")Any morph preferences?(")

"YOu and Phillip as him," I said just loud enough for him to hear. "And have you ever seen Blade? Rachel would love that movie," I had to start speaking in code as the kids were drawing near.

(")You want Rachel as a Hork-Bajir?(") Tobias asked.

"And before the show, we should stop by Mertil's house. He has some games I'd like to borrow."

(")I don't quite understand that one,(") Tobias said.

"I mean, he really knows how to _shred_," I added, hoping Tobias would catch on.

(")Shred? Like Andalite Shredders? From Mertil's house?(") I nodded. (")Where do we need to go?(")

I gave a look to Erek. He understood. "See ya Marco," he said. "I gotta get to the community center. This club I'm a part of is meeting today. Later."

"Later," I said, then walked away. As soon as I was out of sight, I ducked into the bushes and focused on a double-helix strand of DNA within me.

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anyone know how to do thought-speak? I feel all cheaty using (")


	10. 10: Insanity at its Best

Disclaimer: I don't own the Animorphs. But if I had one wish... Well, that would be a date with Adamo Ruggiero. Two, wait no. That would be Shawn Ashmore. Damn. I love Canadian actors. Three wishes? I guess that'll have to do. So if you meet any magical wish fairies, please send me a message, or even better, leave a review. Much obliged.  
This chapter goes out to TapTapTap, even though the name's _not_ a Megamorphs 4 allusion. Thank you for telling me indirectly that my story defies logic lol.

**King's Bishop  
**by ferricflame

Chapter 10: Insanity at its Best

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**There is a pleasure, sure, In being mad, which none but madmen know!**

**-John Dryden**

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Rachel

We were in the barn, waiting for Marco, Tobias, and Ax. So "we" was only Jake, Cassie, and I. It had been a long day of school, and I hadn't slept much in the last week because my little sister Sara had been having nightmares lately. It's kinda hard to sleep with a little girl screaming her head off. It's irritating as fuck. Pardon my French. And it would be better if it was some slasher flick she was having nightmares about, but _Cloverfield_? I mean, seriously. To top it all off, Marco was supposed to have been here ten minutes ago. It was really starting to piss me off.

Tobias flew in through the rafters. (")Rachel, you 're needed,(") he said. (")Marco's got a plan. You need to morph your eagle. We have to fly to the new community center.(")

(")Alright,(") I said, already halfway morphed. I was ready for some action.

"What about us?" Jake asked.

(")Cassie you said your parents are at a convention right?(") She nodded. (")Then you should stay here, probably form a 'Plan B.'(")

"Alright," Jake said, nodding.

By this time I was fully morphed. (")And please don't let my clothes get ruined by an angry raccoon this time. I just bought that red top yesterday, and they don't make black cords like those anymore.(")

"Good luck," Cassie wished us.

* * *

Tobias

I had run into Ax on the way to the barn. I had sent him to Mertil's to get us two shredders. Then I went to the barn to get Rachel. As we headed to the community center, I filled her in on what I knew.

(")When we get there, you need to morph Hork-Bajir. I'll morph Ax, and Ax will be himself. We need to get this Lee kid outta there or else bad shit is gonna go down,(") I explained. (")Ax is getting shredders from Mertil and he'll meet us there.(")

(")Got it,(") Rachel said. We were quiet until we got to the center. Marco was hiding in a bush. (")Marco!(") Rachel said. Marco looked up at us. (")We're here.(")

We landed in the bushes and Rachel demorphed. Just as she finished, a strangely attractive boy came walking up to the bushes. "You got the goods Ax?" Marco asked.

"Unfortunately, I was only able to obtain-nuh one shredder from Mertil. Tul. He was-zuh, shall I say unwilling, to part with more than one. Un." After all this time, he still couldn't speak in human morph without playing with every sound. Ound. He demorphed as I morphed into him. Marco went Leeran and Rachel went Hork-Bajir. Wait. _Leeran_?

(")We can still use that morph?(") I asked Marco. (")How?(")

_WE CAN STILL USE IT BECAUSE OUR EXCESS MATTER WAS STILL OUR MATTER. OR ELSE THE WAR ON LEERA WOULD'VE NEVER HAPPENED_.

(")How'd you come up with that answer?(") I asked him.

_EASY_ he thought _AX WAS THINKING IT._

(")Oh, okay.(")

_READY? LET'S GO IN._

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Short? Well, let me give you a bit more. It's play time!

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Jake

"Oh my god Jake! Faster, go faster!" Cassie shouted. "That's it, right there. Keep it up, keep going strong!"

"Oh, yeah. Oh yeah," I said, nearly breathless. "Ahhhh!"

"Oh my god Jake you are so good at that."

"Practice," I said, blushing. "A whole lot of really intense practice."

"Well, it shows," she said. "I mean it. You kick ass at Mario Kart."

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Oh, come on. You were thinking dirty, weren't you?


	11. 11: Chaos Theory

Disclaimer: I don't own them. "'If only, if only,' the woodpecker sighed." And that movie was a disgrace to the book. And if you didn't understand the ref, you're probably sane. Sorry about the edit but I _had_ to do something to this chapter.

**King's Bishop**  
by ferricflame

11) Chaos Theory

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"Excellent wretch! Perdition catch my soul,  
But I do love thee! And when I love thee not,  
Chaos is come again."

-William Shakespeare, _Othello._ III, iii, 90-2

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Marco

_AX,YOU GO FIRST_, I said. _AND TOBIAS RIGHT AFTER. THERE ARE TWO PEOPLE IN THE HALLWAY, LEE AND TOM._

(")Okay,(") Ax said.

(")Agreed,(") Tobias chimed in.

(")Could you switch to normal thought-speak _please_?,(") Rachel asked. (")That Leeran voice is really irritating.(")

(")Fine,(") I agreed as Ax opened the door. He and Tobias slipped in. (")Knock him out,(") I warned them. (")Don't kill him.(")

"Anda-" Tom started. Ax used a move I was suddenly aware of was called the _torf_. And Tobias was thinking mouse-meat tacos. Seriously.

"Who- what are you?!" Lee asked, shocked.

(")You know me,(") I said.

"I-I don't think so," he spilled out, still really shaky.

(")You need to get out of here. You need to go away, far away.(") Lee stood his ground. (")Now!(")

(")Um, guys, we need to go. Like right now.(") I said to them privately.

(")Why?(") Rachel inquired, equally as private.

(")Two words: Visser Three.(")

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Let's see what's going through Lee's mind now.

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Lee

(")You need to get out of here. You need to go away, far away.(") There were four of them. Two were blue-and-tan centaurs with mouthless faces and dangerous-looking blades on their tails. Another was seven feet tall and had blades practically covering its body. The last, and probably ugliest, was a slimy green-and-yellow frog thing. All four were horribly ugly and intimidating, but I wasn't scared. (")Now!(") I didn't move. One of the centaurs had just knocked out my boyfriend. I was pissed off.

(")Visser Three,(") one of the strange creatures said, but not to me. It sounded like it was talking to one of its fellow monsters.

"What's a Visser Three?" I demanded. "Tell me!"

(")I'm a Visser Three,(") a cold, dark voice said. Suddenly, I was no longer pissed off. No, I was much too preoccupied trying not to wet my pants to be pissed. (")And you must be Lee. What a pleasure it is to finally meet you. I must say, I didn't know you brought friends.(") I turned around slowly. _Oh, shit. Another centaur._ Only this one was much larger than the other two. And a million times more intimidating. And yet… so much more appealing. He looked like power.

"Pleasure's all mine," I said. Give me a break. I get sarcastic when I'm scared.

(")Go!(") I heard a voice yell. Wait. That voice sounded familiar.

Time started to go by really slowly. Tom woke up. One of the centaurs pulled out a weapon of some sort and fired it. The light was coming right at me and I didn't have enough time to react. But Tom did, somehow. Without warning, he jumped in front of the beam racing towards me. And then it hit me. I realized why the voice sounded so familiar. It was Marco's.

That's about when time completely and utterly stopped.

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One or two chapters left, I think. Then on to Fortress. But I'm not quite sure. I have other ones planned, too.


	12. 12: The End?

Disclaimery thingy: Don't own...Katherine Applegate's property...silly mushookies...if you understood the ref, im sorry...

well, sorry i haven't been updating lately but i've been busy. speech stuff, FFA stuff, school stuff, church stuff(unfortunately), theatre stuff, home stuff, (ex)boyfriend stuff, sixteen year-old stuff, and just stuff in general. plus, i've been going through a lot of really emotional stuff and i'm a guy, which means i can't just blame everything on nature and say im on my rag or anything like that. some people have all the luck.  
anyway, here's to you, Sarah Palin

**King's Bishop**  
by ferricflame

_Chapter 12: The End?_

======)12(======

Every end is a new beginning  
-Proverb

======)12(======

Time froze. And then _he _arrived. Or really, more of a _them_. _They_ were The Ellimist. And no, I have no freakin clue how i know his/their name. I just sorta _did_.

"What are you?!" I demanded. Yes, I should have been scared of him. Yes, I was an idiot not to be scared. Normally, I would have been so scared that I would have just crawled into the corner and assumed the fetal position and never gotten up. But I was pissed. I meet Tom, my mentor for The Sharing after school. Marco, my best friend since forever, yells at me. Tom asks me out and I, of course, accept. I mean, he's cute and has a great personality. We go to a meeting, some wierd-ass alien knocks him out. This other alien appears, and i"m not sure whether or not they're on the same side or not. One of the wierd aliens(the ones that knocked out Tom, not the awesomely uber-intimidating one) shoots an energy beam at me. Tom stirs, and somehow jumps in front of the beam. And just like pressing pause, everything froze. Pissed me off.

**_I AM THE ELLIMIST_** he said.

"Yeah, I kinda got that memo."

**_DON'T BE AN ASSHOLE, LEE,_** he said. **_I'M TRYING TO HELP YOU._**

"Oh, really?" I asked. "How?"

**_MAYBE I SHOULD JUST LEAVE NOW. AND LEAVE YOU IN THIS SITUATION THAT'S CONFUSING YOU SO VERY MUCH RIGHT NOW. BY THE WAY, YOU HAVE NO CLUE HOW IMPORTANT YOU ARE IN THIS REALITY._**

"_This_ reality?" I echoed. "As in there are others?"

**_WELL OF COURSE, _**he said, as if it was the simplest thing ever **_BUT IF YOU DON'T WANT ME TO STAY..._**

"No! I mean, please continue."

_**I CAN SAVE YOU FROM THIS REALITY. IT DOESN'T HAVE TO HAPPEN THIS WAY. YOU CAN HAVE A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT LIFE. YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE AN ANOMALY. THAT MEANS YOUR GENETICS ARE ALIGNED JUST SO THAT YOUR MIND CAN RESIST YEERK CONTROL. THAT IS, UNLESS YOU ARE TAKEN VOLUNTARILY. THEN, YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO RESIST. YOU WILL HAVE LESS POWER THAN THEIR MOST BROKEN SLAVE. THEY WERE PLANNING TO USE TOM TO CONVINCE YOU TO JOIN, THEN ISOLATE YOUR ANOMALIC GENE. THEY WOULD POLARIZE SAID GENE AND USE IT TO MAKE EVERYONE **_**NOT _BE ABLE TO RESIST THE YEERKS. _AT ALL._ POOR DEAL FOR TOM, REALLY. HE REALLY, TRULY DOES LIKE YOU. IN THE SAME WAY YOU LIKE HIM. SO NOW YOU HAVE A CHOICE: I CAN CHANGE YOUR ENTIRE REALITY, SAVE YOU FROM THIS. OR YOU CAN CHOOSE TO LET THINGS PLAY OUT RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW._**

"If I choose to change my timeline, is there a chance that Tom and I will end up together? Again?"

**_TOM WILL NOT BE THERE. HE WILL CEASE TO _BE_._**

"Is there a way to save him? If there's any way, I'll take it. Take me instead. I don't care what the price is!"

**_IS THAT YOUR DECISION?_**

"Yes," I said, confidently. "Whatever it takes."

**_SO IT SHALL BE. YOUR SACRIFICE WILL NOT GO UNNOTICED. WE SHALL CROSS PATHS AGAIN..._**

Everything faded before I could so much as ask what that meant.

************

I woke up. _Great, another day_. Well, at least it was Thursday. Only two days of school left until the weekend. And I was fitting the mall with my friend Zach tonight. Life is good

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Well, I'm finally finished. Or am I?  
I should have the first chapter of Fortress posted soon. Also, I think I might convert Through The Tears into a full-blown story, instead of just a short piece. Feel free to advise me on it. I ENJOY FEEDBACK!


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